Your View: How does society define 'violence'?

Thursday

May 16, 2013 at 12:01 AM

"If it bleeds, it leads." That has been the journalistic mantra for ages and that axiom has been applied intensively and often recently. We have witnessed on a national level the marathon bombings, the Jodi Arias trial, the Gosnell abortion/murder factory case and most recently the kidnapping, captivity and brutal treatment of three young women in Cleveland. Of course we can never forget the terrible tragedy of Newtown, Conn., last December.

ROBERT E. COMEAU

"If it bleeds, it leads." That has been the journalistic mantra for ages and that axiom has been applied intensively and often recently. We have witnessed on a national level the marathon bombings, the Jodi Arias trial, the Gosnell abortion/murder factory case and most recently the kidnapping, captivity and brutal treatment of three young women in Cleveland. Of course we can never forget the terrible tragedy of Newtown, Conn., last December.

To our horror and disgust in these cases, we are bombarded with details that are disturbing beyond our imagination and we weep for the victims and their families. When trials are finally conducted, crowds gather around courthouses when guilty verdicts are announced and the crowds cheer. The cheers become even louder in the penalty phase when the death sentence is pronounced. It is perhaps only normal and, in our minds, justifiable to conjure up in our respective imaginations various creative punishments, intended to inflict as much pain and suffering upon these offenders as we possibly can. Many, if not most of us, would be willing to throw the switch to facilitate what we perceive to be swift and final justice on these offenders who, because of their crimes, are regarded as something less than lawn slugs.

Such is the nature of our own blood lust and the need for what we consider "punishment." We simply justify that need in the pursuit of the often cliched "closure." But the question remains: How can there be "closure" for those who loved and grieve for the victims of these crimes? The answer: Unfortunately, "closure" is never achieved totally, but there is, hopefully, in most cases anyway, a degree of healing over time.

The paradox in all of this is the fact that we condemn violent acts and those who commit them, while at the same time we have a tolerance for and a vicarious fascination with many forms of violence. We often forget the scriptural reference that an angry word directed at another is one form. Bullying of the weaker by the stronger is yet another. Abortion, in every case, despite the euphemisms and desperate attempts at justification is and always will be, an act of violence. The preponderance of violence in films, television and video games is further evidence of this underlying and troubling fascination.

To satisfy our outrage as individuals and in society as a whole and to satisfy our need for vengeance, we promote and buy into the concept of capital punishment, which is indisputably, by any definition, another form of violence. We need to be clear: The majority of us who are against capital punishment do not oppose it out of concern for the perpetrators.

There are no "bleeding hearts" here. We are as equally horrified and offended by these miscreants and their heinous deeds as those who wish to take their lives, usually because they believe it will deter other potential offenders. The fact is, that 88 percent of the respondents in a recent survey of leading criminologists in the country did not believe that the death penalty is a proven deterrent to homicide. Additionally, there are crimes so egregious that any form of punishment is inadequate and true justice, as most of us understand it, cannot be achieved.

In the final analysis it should not be about the offenders but about us as a civilized society. Therefore, to me, the simplest and best argument against capital punishment is that we have to be as clear as possible about who we are, what we stand for, and ultimately what we do collectively. The differences and distinctions between the offenders and a just and civilized society must be consistent and unmistakable.

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